"I'm the Design Star. ... I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm so happy -- so happy, I'm crying," says Emily Henderson as the finale of HGTV's "Design Star" wrapped up Sunday night with her beating 11 other contestants to win the title.

Henderson, who grew up in Coos Bay and finished high school at Lake Oswego's Lakeridge High, won the chance to create her own show for HGTV, which will be called "Secrets From a Stylist" and hits HGTV on Aug. 29.

"It's kind of the equivalent of getting married," she says of the unbelievable feeling of winning. She said she kept just stopping in her tracks and saying, "I have a TV show." She said she did the same thing when she and her husband, Brian, married; she kept being gladly stunned by the idea.

"I mean, I thought I was dreaming," Henderson said from her home in Los Angeles. When judge Vern Yip announced that "the next Design Star was" (huge pregnant pause) "Emily," Henderson said it all seemed surreal.

"No way is this happening," she recalls thinking.

In the final episode, Henderson and the other finalist, Michael Moeller of New York, each needed to produce a five-minute segment of what their show would look like.

Moeller, who called his show "Design Revolution," took a partially furnished New York apartment and created a new space for his client -- played by former contestant Nina Ferrer -- who was transitioning to her new career.

Henderson, who called her show "Style to Lifestyle," met with former contestant Tom Vecchione and used his fashion sense and personality to re-create his New York apartment.

Judges Yip, Candice Olson and Genevieve Gorder agreed that both contestants put on a terrific show, with Yip saying they had a difficult decision to make.

Henderson says that when she and Moeller were sent backstage to await the call for the winner, both agreed it could go either way. They were asked to critique each other's work, but both found it difficult. Henderson said she didn't have any criticism of Moeller's work.

In the end, it was Henderson's casually comfortable on-air presence that seemed to win over the judges. Olson said she wondered where Moeller's personality had been all through the competition and whether what he showed in the finale could be sustained.

Henderson, who said on air that she considered herself the underdog, told Moeller she'd be "truly happy" if he won -- happier if she won, but truly happy for him.

The first episode of Henderson's HGTV series, "Secrets From a Stylist" will be a makeover for Ian Brennan, one of the co-creators of "Glee." Henderson couldn't reveal too much about her new show but said the material and story ideas were a complete collaboration with the folks at HGTV.

The general format is to focus the style of a room on the personality of the client, infusing their living space with their style and making it look lived in and comfortable.

Henderson's husband, who suggested she try out for "Design Star," is "very proud," Henderson says. "He kept telling me, 'You're so good, such a natural.'"

That went a long way for Henderson, who despite seeming super cool and casual on screen, says it makes her nervous to watch herself and, as is human, it's difficult to not be critical.